Boston City Councilor Tania Fernandes Anderson, a Democrat, was arrested on Friday morning by Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) agents on charges of public corruption.
According to WCVB, the Democrat official was arrested after being indicted for allegedly engaging in a “kickback scheme” that she used to “obtain several thousand dollars in taxpayer money.” The outlet noted that Fernandes Anderson was arrested at roughly 6 a.m. on Friday and that FBI agents were seen outside her home in Dorchester.
According to a court filing by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Massachusetts, Fernandes Anderson has been charged with five counts of wire fraud and one count of theft concerning programs receiving federal funds.
U.S. Attorney Joshua Levy said, “These six felony charges stem from an alleged kickback scheme that she orchestrated to obtain several thousand dollars in taxpayer money in exchange for a bribe she paid to a staffer who gave she gave her a very large bonus.”
According to Fox News, federal prosecutors claim that Fernandes Anderson hired one of her relatives as a staff member in 2022 and defrauded the city of Boston by arranging for the relative to receive “additional compensation” and “kickback most of this bonus pay.”
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The court filing stated, “From in or about early to mid-2023, Fernandes Anderson was facing personal financial difficulty, which included missing monthly rent and car payments, an impending $5,000 civil penalty from the Ethics Commission, and incurring bank overdraft fees, which resulted in Fernandes Anderson maintaining low daily bank balances.”
Levy claimed that the “supersized bonus” provided to the staff member hired in 2022 “came with a hitch,” requiring the staff member to provide Fernandes Anderson with $7,000 in cash. The indictment against the Democratic official claims that the staff member withdrew $7,000 over multiple bank transactions in June of 2023 and “handed Fernandes Anderson approximately $7,000 in cash at a bathroom in City Hall.”
“When they met in that bathroom, Ms. Fernandes Anderson put $7,000 in her pocket,” Levy said. “All of that money was funded by the taxpayers of Boston.”
Court documents also show that despite Boston city councilors being barred from hiring immediate family members as paid staff members, the Democratic official hired two immediate family members in 2022. While the indictment shows that Fernandes Anderson later fired the two family members, she was fined $5,000 over the incident.
On Friday, Levy claimed that Fernandes Anderson’s kickback scheme was part of the Democratic official’s plan to pay the $5,000 fine. Levy said, “Ms. Fernandes Anderson chose to violate her fiduciary duty and defraud the city of Boston, the indictment alleges, rather than find a legal means to pay off that debt.”